Thomas J. MacKrell, the youngest son of Martha Jane McCollam MacKrell Smith and James Edward MacKrell (who died as a POW in Andersonville Confederate Prison in 1864), spent his younger years in Butler County, Pennsylvania, and his teenage years on the farm of his step-father, Davis Smith, between Mitchell and Alexandria, South Dakota. He spoke of spending a major part of one summer breaking forty acres of sod with a team of oxen. As a young man, he returned to Butler County where he worked for a period of time.
In the 1890s, he returned to Alexandria and then in 1896 moved to Deadwood SD, where he found employment in a gold smelter. The black slag pile along Whitewood Creek at the lower end of Deadwood was his work site.
In 1897, Tom MacKrell married Alice Charlotte Jacobson from Alexandria and they established a home in Spruce Gulch, above the smelters in Deadwood. Eventually, the MacKrell's had nine children:
Florence Clara (1898-1992) m. Semmons
Alice Margaret (1900-1993)
Allen Hugh (1901-1949)
George Martin (1903-1972)
Gladys Lillian (1905 - )
Jessie E (1907-1995)
Vera M (1909-1990)
Jean Marie (1913-1992)
Thomas Woodrow (1915-1999)
In 1908, Tom moved his family to a homestead eleven miles southeast of Vale, SD. He built a house and outbuildings and broke sod to establish fields. He supplemented his income by working for various neighbors.
In 1913, after proving up on his homestead, he moved the family to a rented, irrigated farm, the Barry place, about eight miles southeast of Vale. Here he engaged in a corn and hog operation.
In 1915, the MacKrell's moved back to their original homestead. Tom bought an adjoining quarter section, the Houghton place, and filed on an adjoining half section of pasture land under an extension homestead act. He had a full section of land at that point and he lived there for the remainder of his life.
On January 10, 1936 Tom passed away after suffering several strokes in the last four years of his life. In the late summer of 1936, Alice MacKrell went to live with her daughter, Gladys Viken, in Billings, Montana. George and Viola MacKrell stayed on the MacKrell farm.
Alice MacKrell died in 1960 and is buried beside her husband in the Sturgis Cemetery. Their oldest son, Allen, is buried beside them. Allen died while herding sheep in the blizzard of 1949.*
*NOTE about the historic blizzard of 1949: "Amazingly, blizzard-related fatalities were few. Allen MacKrell, a sheepherder, was the only South Dakotan to die from exposure. When his employer discovered him missing after the
blizzard, he immediately organized rescue parties. Not until 24 February did searchers find his body near Kyle on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation." {Vol. 29 No.4 It's Going Down in History accessed from the South Dakota Historical Society.}
Biographical information courtesy of Robert E. MacKrell, July 19, 1999.
In the 1890s, he returned to Alexandria and then in 1896 moved to Deadwood SD, where he found employment in a gold smelter. The black slag pile along Whitewood Creek at the lower end of Deadwood was his work site.
In 1897, Tom MacKrell married Alice Charlotte Jacobson from Alexandria and they established a home in Spruce Gulch, above the smelters in Deadwood. Eventually, the MacKrell's had nine children:
Florence Clara (1898-1992) m. Semmons
Alice Margaret (1900-1993)
Allen Hugh (1901-1949)
George Martin (1903-1972)
Gladys Lillian (1905 - )
Jessie E (1907-1995)
Vera M (1909-1990)
Jean Marie (1913-1992)
Thomas Woodrow (1915-1999)
In 1908, Tom moved his family to a homestead eleven miles southeast of Vale, SD. He built a house and outbuildings and broke sod to establish fields. He supplemented his income by working for various neighbors.
In 1913, after proving up on his homestead, he moved the family to a rented, irrigated farm, the Barry place, about eight miles southeast of Vale. Here he engaged in a corn and hog operation.
In 1915, the MacKrell's moved back to their original homestead. Tom bought an adjoining quarter section, the Houghton place, and filed on an adjoining half section of pasture land under an extension homestead act. He had a full section of land at that point and he lived there for the remainder of his life.
On January 10, 1936 Tom passed away after suffering several strokes in the last four years of his life. In the late summer of 1936, Alice MacKrell went to live with her daughter, Gladys Viken, in Billings, Montana. George and Viola MacKrell stayed on the MacKrell farm.
Alice MacKrell died in 1960 and is buried beside her husband in the Sturgis Cemetery. Their oldest son, Allen, is buried beside them. Allen died while herding sheep in the blizzard of 1949.*
*NOTE about the historic blizzard of 1949: "Amazingly, blizzard-related fatalities were few. Allen MacKrell, a sheepherder, was the only South Dakotan to die from exposure. When his employer discovered him missing after the
blizzard, he immediately organized rescue parties. Not until 24 February did searchers find his body near Kyle on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation." {Vol. 29 No.4 It's Going Down in History accessed from the South Dakota Historical Society.}
Biographical information courtesy of Robert E. MacKrell, July 19, 1999.
Thomas J. MacKrell, the youngest son of Martha Jane McCollam MacKrell Smith and James Edward MacKrell (who died as a POW in Andersonville Confederate Prison in 1864), spent his younger years in Butler County, Pennsylvania, and his teenage years on the farm of his step-father, Davis Smith, between Mitchell and Alexandria, South Dakota. He spoke of spending a major part of one summer breaking forty acres of sod with a team of oxen. As a young man, he returned to Butler County where he worked for a period of time.
In the 1890s, he returned to Alexandria and then in 1896 moved to Deadwood SD, where he found employment in a gold smelter. The black slag pile along Whitewood Creek at the lower end of Deadwood was his work site.
In 1897, Tom MacKrell married Alice Charlotte Jacobson from Alexandria and they established a home in Spruce Gulch, above the smelters in Deadwood. Eventually, the MacKrell's had nine children:
Florence Clara (1898-1992) m. Semmons
Alice Margaret (1900-1993)
Allen Hugh (1901-1949)
George Martin (1903-1972)
Gladys Lillian (1905 - )
Jessie E (1907-1995)
Vera M (1909-1990)
Jean Marie (1913-1992)
Thomas Woodrow (1915-1999)
In 1908, Tom moved his family to a homestead eleven miles southeast of Vale, SD. He built a house and outbuildings and broke sod to establish fields. He supplemented his income by working for various neighbors.
In 1913, after proving up on his homestead, he moved the family to a rented, irrigated farm, the Barry place, about eight miles southeast of Vale. Here he engaged in a corn and hog operation.
In 1915, the MacKrell's moved back to their original homestead. Tom bought an adjoining quarter section, the Houghton place, and filed on an adjoining half section of pasture land under an extension homestead act. He had a full section of land at that point and he lived there for the remainder of his life.
On January 10, 1936 Tom passed away after suffering several strokes in the last four years of his life. In the late summer of 1936, Alice MacKrell went to live with her daughter, Gladys Viken, in Billings, Montana. George and Viola MacKrell stayed on the MacKrell farm.
Alice MacKrell died in 1960 and is buried beside her husband in the Sturgis Cemetery. Their oldest son, Allen, is buried beside them. Allen died while herding sheep in the blizzard of 1949.*
*NOTE about the historic blizzard of 1949: "Amazingly, blizzard-related fatalities were few. Allen MacKrell, a sheepherder, was the only South Dakotan to die from exposure. When his employer discovered him missing after the
blizzard, he immediately organized rescue parties. Not until 24 February did searchers find his body near Kyle on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation." {Vol. 29 No.4 It's Going Down in History accessed from the South Dakota Historical Society.}
Biographical information courtesy of Robert E. MacKrell, July 19, 1999.
In the 1890s, he returned to Alexandria and then in 1896 moved to Deadwood SD, where he found employment in a gold smelter. The black slag pile along Whitewood Creek at the lower end of Deadwood was his work site.
In 1897, Tom MacKrell married Alice Charlotte Jacobson from Alexandria and they established a home in Spruce Gulch, above the smelters in Deadwood. Eventually, the MacKrell's had nine children:
Florence Clara (1898-1992) m. Semmons
Alice Margaret (1900-1993)
Allen Hugh (1901-1949)
George Martin (1903-1972)
Gladys Lillian (1905 - )
Jessie E (1907-1995)
Vera M (1909-1990)
Jean Marie (1913-1992)
Thomas Woodrow (1915-1999)
In 1908, Tom moved his family to a homestead eleven miles southeast of Vale, SD. He built a house and outbuildings and broke sod to establish fields. He supplemented his income by working for various neighbors.
In 1913, after proving up on his homestead, he moved the family to a rented, irrigated farm, the Barry place, about eight miles southeast of Vale. Here he engaged in a corn and hog operation.
In 1915, the MacKrell's moved back to their original homestead. Tom bought an adjoining quarter section, the Houghton place, and filed on an adjoining half section of pasture land under an extension homestead act. He had a full section of land at that point and he lived there for the remainder of his life.
On January 10, 1936 Tom passed away after suffering several strokes in the last four years of his life. In the late summer of 1936, Alice MacKrell went to live with her daughter, Gladys Viken, in Billings, Montana. George and Viola MacKrell stayed on the MacKrell farm.
Alice MacKrell died in 1960 and is buried beside her husband in the Sturgis Cemetery. Their oldest son, Allen, is buried beside them. Allen died while herding sheep in the blizzard of 1949.*
*NOTE about the historic blizzard of 1949: "Amazingly, blizzard-related fatalities were few. Allen MacKrell, a sheepherder, was the only South Dakotan to die from exposure. When his employer discovered him missing after the
blizzard, he immediately organized rescue parties. Not until 24 February did searchers find his body near Kyle on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation." {Vol. 29 No.4 It's Going Down in History accessed from the South Dakota Historical Society.}
Biographical information courtesy of Robert E. MacKrell, July 19, 1999.
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